


The Man Inside The Armor

by camichats, Haunted_Frost



Category: Marvel
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Fake Character Death, Fluff, Getting Together, Identity Porn, Identity Reveal, M/M, Mistaken Identity, Misunderstandings, Multi, Polyamory, Polyamory Negotiations, Prosthesis, Scars, Tony Stark has a prosthetic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-16
Updated: 2019-02-16
Packaged: 2019-10-29 17:42:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,023
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17812526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/camichats/pseuds/camichats, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Haunted_Frost/pseuds/Haunted_Frost
Summary: It's obvious that James Rhodes is the one in the Iron Man armor, right? Steve and Bucky want to add Iron Man to their relationship, so instead of asking Iron Man directly they go to James so there's less confusion. Only now they're rejected, and Iron Man's mad at them.





	The Man Inside The Armor

**Author's Note:**

> Haunted_Frost's wonderful art for this story can be found here https://lyricfrost13.tumblr.com/post/182847966622/the-man-inside-the-armor-tonys-reveal-my-art so go check that out. Reblog it! Send her love because it's amazing! This fic was so much fun to do ^-^

Bucky and Steve had been talking about adding Iron Man to their relationship for a while, and the day had come where they finally decided to talk to him. Here's the thing though, talking to Iron Man about it was probably a bad idea because there was no reason to do that instead of talking to him without the mask in the way. And yes, officially nobody knew who he was, but it was pretty obvious that it was James Rhodes, who'd taken over Stark Industries when Tony Stark died and was currently hosting and paying for the Avengers. Yeah he didn't act anything like he did in the armor, but he had a secret identity to think of, and besides, who else would it be in there?

James was always distantly nice to the Avengers when not in the suit, so it was easy to ask him for some time alone to talk. He strode into the living room, finishing something up on his phone before tucking it into his pocket and sitting in the chair next to them. "Captain, Sergeant. What can I do for you?"

Steve and Bucky shared a look, trying to draw strength from each other. Steve cleared his throat slightly before turning to James. "Me and Buck have been talking, and we were wondering if maybe you'd- like to join us."

James's eyes went wide, and blinked at them owlishly. "Uh." He looked completely blindsided, and not in a good way like this was everything he'd been dreaming of but hadn't dared to hope was real. More like he'd never thought about this and therefore didn't know what to say. "I'm flattered, but... not interested. I haven't done anything like that since college and--"

"We don't mean a threesome," Bucky said quickly. "It's not a sex thing, it's a relationship thing. Polyamory, we looked it up."

"Right," he said slowly. "That's good, I guess. But uh." He scratched at his ear uncomfortably. "I don't think I could do a relationship like that, and I just-" he motioned between the three of them "-frankly don't think it would work. And no offense but I'm not interested in either of you that way." James looked like he would rather be anywhere else in the world in that moment, and they couldn't blame him for it. He beat a hasty retreat and didn't look back.

"Well," Bucky said thickly. "That could have gone better."

Steve swallowed hard, reaching for Bucky's hand and squeezing.

* * *

Rhodey rubbed at his eyes. How the hell did this shit happen to him? His life had been normal, all things considered, for the longest time. The first weird thing had been meeting Tony and becoming his friend, and most of the weird shit in his life afterwards could be traced to that. Since Afghanistan however, things had been worse. Tony had been declared dead, and instead of coming back and saying 'hi no actually I am alive', he'd gone along with the lie and focused on being Iron Man while Rhodey tried to deal with being his replacement.

And now he had to tell Tony that the two super soldiers he was head over heels for had just asked Rhodey on a date instead of him. Fucking hell he hated this.

Jarvis brought him down to the workshop, and Rhodey punched in his code before the doors opened to let him in. Tony poked his head up when he heard the doors whooshed open, and he grinned brightly. "Honey bear! Come here, I have an idea for the boots that I wanted to run by you." He scrambled to his feet, and Rhodey was helpless to the fond smile that came across his face. "You remember that time the repulsors weren't working but it was all icy and so I just kinda flopped everywhere? I have a solution!" He held up his hands and made the face he used when he had an idea that was hilarious but he thought was brilliant. "Roller skates."

"In the boots?"

"In the boots. They'll never see it coming! Let's see you try and slip me now you green glowing ass wipe."

Rhodey hid his laugh behind his hand, and fortunately Tony had already turned away so he didn't see-- not that he would do more than give an exaggerated pout if he did see. He didn't want to ruin Tony's good mood, so he waited until all their usual conversation was out of the way to bring it up.

He hated the way Tony's smile froze on his face and how he tried to pretend his heart wasn't breaking.

* * *

Tony usually loved being in the Iron Man armor because it was the only way he was allowed out. If he wasn't in the armor, he was in his room, the workshop, or Rhodey's room because those were the only three places that could be locked securely enough that no one else could accidentally walk in or get surveillance.

But right now... he didn't want to see any of the Avengers, least of all Steve and Bucky, but when he surfaced from a workshop binge, they always showed up to talk and catch up like they hadn't seen him in years. Rhodey was wrong; he wasn't heartbroken, he was just annoyed that they'd wanted Rhodey for a relationship and that wasn't something he'd get to experience. Come on, being the filling of a super soldier sandwich? There were dozens of pornos with that setting, and Tony may or may not have watched all of them. It certainly wasn't something that anyone had proof for.

Point was, he was in the kitchen making a smoothie in the Iron Man suit, and it felt like a prison instead of freedom, especially when Steve and Bucky walked in all sleepy from being in bed together. Tony glanced at them, but looked away quickly when a pang shot through his chest. Damn arc reactor.

"Hey Shellhead," Steve said hesitantly, like he wasn't sure how Tony was going to respond.

"Hello," he said shortly. He scooped ice into the blender and turned it on before anyone could try and make conversation-- if they even would. He honestly didn't know. The blender finished, and he picked it up carefully to tip the reddish concoction into one of his cups. He stuck a cap on and figured another stint in the workshop couldn't hurt. "Have a nice day."

He walked out, and neither of them tried to stop him. Great, this was exactly how he wanted his life to go. Hiding in a suit of armor pining over two men that couldn't care less about him? Yeah that was the dream. He snorted at himself. Rhodey was right, he really was getting more dramatic the older he got-- not that he was old, mind, just older than he used to be and admittedly more dramatic.

He worked on making the distribution of the net better for Clint's arrows and didn't think about the fact that two of his best friends would rather be with Rhodey-- someone they barely knew-- than him. He didn't blame them of course, his honey bunch was gorgeous and amazing, but he'd thought that Steve and Bucky would like to be with someone they knew a little better.

Tony grimaced as he got to his feet and the left one buckled. He looked down at the prosthetic and lifted his leg to jiggle it a little. It shouldn't be acting up; he'd just checked on it last week. But obviously it was, so he sat back down with a sigh and detached it from just under his knee, plopping it on the table in front of him. "Jarvis, scan it."

A blue holographic screen went from one end to the other before disappearing. "No anomalies found."

Tony frowned. "What do you mean 'no anomalies found'? It messed up."

"With all due respect sir, I believe it has to do with your current emotional state."

"What?" How the hell would his emotions fuck up his tech? This wasn't Asgard where science and magic were intertwined, this was Earth where they were separate and he was Tony fucking Stark who made working tech that didn't glitch for no reason.

"You created the prosthetic limb to be indistinguishable from the one you were born with. If your body wants to falter, the prosthetic will not prevent that from happening."

Tony glared at the nearest camera. "You're not allowed to be smarter than me J. I made you, this doesn't make any sense."

"Then clearly I am not smarter than you sir. Just prettier."

Tony cracked, the comment taking him by surprise so he was laughing uncontrollably when the call to assemble came through. "Ready to suit up buddy?" he asked, still chuckling.

"For you sir, always."

Tony showed up alongside the rest of the team to leave for where the trouble was, and he didn't think he was imagining the way Bucky was tilted away from him uncomfortably, or the way Steve refused to make eye contact with him. Not that he wanted either of them to pretend that nothing had happened, but it was just adding insult to injury. They flirted with him and then turned around and propositioned his best friend, and then they ignored him when Rhodey said no.

When they all set down and dispersed to take on the squid slug things that were oozing out of the ocean, Tony thought things were back to normal, at least temporarily. Clint was still telling jokes that Steve told him to drop, Jan was still insisting that they were cute and maybe with a little love they could be good, Bucky was calling everyone their normal names, and Natasha got onto him for it.

Except all of a sudden something large hit him square in the back and Steve, who was supposed to be watching his back, hadn't said a damn word about it, even after the loogie-- because one of the squid slug things had definitely spit that out-- landed. "Where the hell are your eyes at?" Tony spat, shaking off the goo as best he could. It didn't really work, it was one cohesive blob that didn't want to move an inch, let alone fall off him entirely.

"Sorry Iron Man," Steve said, sounding entirely too guilty for a simple slip-up in the field. God he hadn't been looking at all had he?

It was a bad battle. It should have been one of their weird, funny stories, but the suit was banged up to hell. Tony was lucky the worst things he got out of it were bruises and a few cracked ribs considering the darling Captain America wasn't paying any fucking attention even though he'd been the one to say 'yes Iron Man, of course I will watch your back during this fight and tell you if anything comes up behind you' and then promptly not done that for the entire fight.

Tony had to get on the quinjet with the rest of them instead of flying home since the repulsors on his boots were completely shot. He waited for the doors to close before he whirled on Steve. "What the fuck was all that! My boss turns you and your precious boyfriend down for a romp in the sack so you decide to take it out on me?"

Steve reared back, and Bucky automatically went to his side. Normally Tony thought that was sweet, but right now he was just pissed. "What? No! Christ I- I'm sorry about that, but I wasn't trying to hurt you."

"Could've fooled me," Tony growled, turning away and stomping over to one of the reinforced seats. He darkened the eye slits-- his sign that he was busy and wouldn't be able to hear anyone if they tried to get his attention-- and seethed.

The rest of the team carefully pretended like they hadn't seen or heard anything, but by the time they were all cleaned up, everyone would be poking their noses in, maybe going over the footage to see if Tony was over reacting a little or if Steve really did deserve it. For now though, they kept their heads down and fiddled with a stubborn piece of goo on their shoe if it was there, and if not, just stared at the ceiling.

Tony bit back angry tears. His control wasn't as good as before his fake-death, but it didn't have to be-- no one could see him. God he was such an idiot. He'd had himself well and convinced that they were interested in him, and it turns out that they wanted to be with Rhodey. He understood the appeal of course-- Rhodey was god damn perfect thank you very much-- but that didn't make it hurt less.

A few minutes later, Steve sat beside him, looking rather sheepish. "I'm sorry," he said in an undertone. "I wasn't focused on the battle." He opened his mouth but didn't say anything, his throat working like he had meant to say something but stopped himself. "It won't happen again."

"Good," Tony said, meaning to be harsh but he was past his anger and had settled on simply being annoyed. Oh the Rhodey-threesome thing still hurt, but he wasn't angry about it. For the moment, at least. He sighed, leaning his head back against the bulkhead. "We can talk when we get home."

"Okay." Steve put a hand on his shoulder, and Tony ached with how much he wished the touch wasn't buffeted by the armor. The sensors told him that Steve squeezed his shoulder before letting go. Tony's chest squeezed, and he wanted to check on the arc reactor even though he knew nothing was wrong with it.

Tony wanted to rub at his temples; it felt like he had a headache coming on, and he did not want to have to deal with that. These mood swings were going to drive him absolutely insane, and Steve never even blamed him for them. He just took Tony's anger at him to mean that he'd done something wrong and apologized. Granted this time he'd actually done something wrong, but there were times when he hadn't and he still said he was sorry.

God he need to shut his mind off for a minute before he drove himself into an early grave with all the bullshit swirling through his head.

He leaned back, turned off his external speaker, and put on some music. His mind still did its level best to keep him occupied, but the wailing guitar and banging drums were able to stifle most of the internal noise.

Before he knew it though, the quinjet was landing, and the song wasn't the one he remembered. Huh. Maybe he'd dozed off a little. He turned the music off and put the speaker back on out of habit, taking a quick look around. Steve was sitting next to Bruce, and Bucky was trading insults with Clint from the co-pilot's seat. He got to his feet, and his head spun. Unthinking, he brought his hand up to his head, wincing at the quiet clang of metal on metal when his fingers scraped the faceplate.

"J?" he said, tongue feeling clumsy in his mouth like he'd had a little too much to drink. "Wha's-?" The world around him spun, and he put his hand out to the wall behind him; it didn't help.

It was the last thing he saw before the world went dark.

* * *

"Iron Man?" Natasha asked, the first to see that something was wrong. He didn't seem to hear her, barely getting out two words before collapsing on the ground with a terrifying clamor.

Bucky and Steve were out of their chairs in a flash, Bucky pushing to roll him over as though that would help, but it's not like any of the rest of them knew what to do. Iron Man had a secret identity, non-negotiable for his continued presence on the team, and they couldn't just pop off his helmet anytime something went wrong because then they would have seen his face years ago, before half the current team was around, even.

But with the exception of the Battle of New York, Iron Man had never past out on them.

"What do we do?" Bucky asked, hands fluttering uselessly around Iron Man's body.

"We could call Mister Rhodes?" Bruce suggested.

The rest of them shared a look. Bruce was the only one that didn't think they were one person in the same, and while the rest of them knew that James was the one in the armor, it was completely different to force him to show his face to all of them when it was so clearly a secret he wanted to keep.

"Jarvis?" Bruce asked, ignoring the rest of them. "Can you call James?"

"Mister Rhodes is unavailable at the moment. Dialing Miss Potts now." The truth was that Rhodey was in a meeting that was the level of confidential that he didn't have his phone on him, but the Avengers (minus Bruce) took that as confirmation for who was inside the suit.

Pepper picked up the phone quickly, answering with a worried, "Yes?" instead of her usual 'Pepper Potts speaking' since she had seen who was calling.

"Iron Man- fainted," Bruce said awkwardly, unsure how else to phrase it. "Is there a doctor he sees?"

Pepper paused. "Are you at the Tower?"

"Yes."

"Go inside, I'll call Doctor Cho, she'll take care of him."

Steve and Bucky were careful as they picked him up, the weight of the armor bearable between the two of them. They followed Jarvis's instructions and brought him to on the make-shift hospital beds in the tower, which were mostly used when one of them still needed to be in the hospital but couldn't stay any longer in an actual one.

The rest of the team hovered, wanting to make sure he was okay, but all of them at a loss for what to do. None of them were exactly the 'wait around for something good to happen' kind of people, and they all felt horribly helpless.

Doctor Cho showed up quickly, still tying her hair back as she and her team came into the room. "Get me Pepper on the phone," she said to one of them as another went to one of the cabinets and started preparing a few things. What they thought they were going to do without an examination, none of the Avengers knew. "I need the room," she said to them. "I'll keep you updated."

Miss Potts saying, "Yes Helen?" was the last thing they heard before they were shooed out of the room.

As soon as Steve and Bucky were alone, Steve said, "If he doesn't wake up--"

"He will."

"But if he doesn't the last thing we did was fight." Steve was agitated, pacing the room and clenching and unclenching his hands. "And then he'll die thinking that--"

"Woah woah woah," Bucky said, getting to his feet and putting his hands on Steve's shoulders to get him to stop. "We don't know what's going on, and we sure as hell don't think he's dying okay? Until Doctor Cho says otherwise, we are going to believe that he is going to walk out of that room perfectly fine by the end of the day." Bucky moved his hands so he was cupping Steve's face. "Okay? I don't want to hear anymore of this doom's day bullshit," he said with a small smile.

"I just." Steve stopped and took a deep breath. "I hate that we're fighting right now."

"Are we fighting?" Bucky asked, raising an eyebrow. "Cause I think he was mad that you didn't have his back out there and that's it."

"I meant us asking him to join the relationship. He seemed mad."

Bucky's face softened, and he pressed a kiss to Steve's forehead. "We'll figure it out. He said he wanted to talk right? We'll give him some time to get better, and then we can talk. Just because he turned us down doesn't mean he wants to stop being our friend."

Steve took another bracing breath, eyes closing as he tried to ground himself. "Right. It's not the end of the world. I-" he stopped. Breathed. "Can we stay here for a bit?"

Bucky pet his hair, taking Steve's weight easily as he leaned against him. "Yeah. I know Doctor Cho's a miracle worker and all, but I think even she needs some time." He tried not to think of Iron Man lying prone on a hospital bed and held Steve tighter.

* * *

Funnily enough-- or at least, funny in Tony's opinion-- it was the arc reactor. He found it hilarious in a that-almost-killed-me-but-since-it-failed-it's-funny sort of way. Needless to say, everyone else was less amused. The slug's ooze had hit the arc reactor and apparently had a nasty partnership going on with electricity since it seeped through to the core and corrupted it, making it unusable. And since it was sort of powering Tony while he powered the suit... yeah. Unpleasant results in the end.

But hey! Helen figured it out pretty quickly; he didn't even die again. She just got Pepper to pull Rhodey from his Super Secret Meeting (and why had Tony never had that when he was in charge?) so he could tell her where a replacement one was.

The Avengers were allowed to see him before he was back to being fully suited, but they had agreed that only a couple of them should go in at a time. There wasn't even a discussion as to who it would be, and Bucky and Steve walked in to see his hand and forearm-- which were the most they had ever seen of him. That, combined with Rhodey and Pepper both lecturing him about the finer points of communication and self-care was enough to let everyone know that no, it wasn't actually James Rhodes inside the armor.

Bucky stopped cold when he saw it, eyes darting between Rhodey and the piece of Iron Man that they could see. He had one thought on repeat. We fucked up.

"Iron Man?" Steve said faintly, holding Bucky's hand tightly as he took in the scene in front of them.

"Woops duty calls," he said to Pepper and Rhodey, unsuccessfully trying to pull the IV out of his arm. Rhodey swat at his metal covered hand with a scowl.

"I swear to god if you try that again I will tie you to this bed," Pepper said.

"Kinky," Tony joked, but it was automatic, not out of any real desire to tease her. He was tired and wanted to get out of the suit-- or, as Rhodey had taken to calling it when Tony annoyed him, the 'tin can'. He also stopped trying to get it out because he knew Pepper was completely serious with her threat. "Hey Cap." He frowned when he saw how pale Steve had gotten. "You okay?"

"We thought you were the same," he said, sounding rather faint.

"What?" What did he think Tony was the same as?

Steve gestured between him and Rhodey. "You were- it- it made sense," he stuttered.

"Anyone else getting this?" he asked looking to Rhodey for help.

He was confused for a minute before his face lit with realization. "They thought I was in the armor."

"It made sense," Bucky repeated quietly.

"Maybe we should go," Pepper said suddenly, tugging on James's arm and giving him a significant look. "You know, give them some time alone?"

"Oh! Yes." He knocked his knuckled against the face plate gently. "Don't even think about getting out of bed man. Doctor Cho said to take it easy and you are going to whether you like it or not."

Tony pouted at him as they left, not that anyone could see it. When Bucky and Steve continued to stand there awkwardly, he broke the silence. "Well that explains a few things. Like why you asked him to date you instead of me."

"Is that... something you want?" Bucky asked hesitantly.

"Not if you're asking everybody that passes your way." His words were harsher than his tone, which is why Bucky didn't get defensive.

"We're not asking everybody, we're asking you. We just... thought he was you."

"Why didn't you ask me? Me like this?" he asked, using his metal covered hand to gesture to the rest of his armor.

"We thought it'd be easier," Steve said with a grimace. "We wouldn't have to deal with the secret identity thing, you know? Or we thought we wouldn't," he amended.

Tony considered, for a moment, that he could say yes to their offer-- which was clearly still on the table. He'd be able to touch a real live person other than Rhodey or Pepper, and he'd get to wake up with someone again. Not just anyone, but two people that he trusted and cared about more than almost anything else in the world.

But reality wouldn't let that dream come true. He was Howard's son, and that actually meant something to two people that knew him when he was just an eccentric genius and not a giant dickwad. It would be better if he were a complete stranger, someone that had no ties to the group at all.

"Yeah," Tony said, clearing his throat. "Well maybe the next time you're looking for a bedmate, you choose someone you actually know."

Bucky blinked. "We do know you."

"You didn't know the difference between me and Rhodey."

"Yes we did," Steve said. "We thought he treated us differently outside the armor to cover his secret identity, but we did know that there was a difference."

It was reasonable. It made sense. Tony didn't quite believe it though. "Yeah. Tell me that again in a week and see if I believe you then."

"Iron Man," Bucky said, sounding pained.

"You don't even know my name. You don't know what I look like."

"Don't you have a rant on online dating?" Steve asked. "I think that would apply here. Come on, Shellhead. We know you. Admittedly, thinking you were your boss didn't do us any favors, but everyone thought that." Everyone except Bruce, but that didn't seem like a good thing to bring up.

Tony didn't want to admit that they had a point. Mostly he was desperate for any excuse to give them a chance, but he also didn't want to jump into this feet first and get hurt again. "I'll think about it," is what he settled on.

Steve opened his mouth-- probably to try and convince Iron Man that he could actually decide what he wanted to do right now-- but Bucky stopped him, yanking on his arm with a glare. "That's fine," he said to Tony as he continued to look at Steve. "We can wait. Can't we Steve?" he said, raising his eyebrows.

Steve stared at Iron Man a minute longer before looking away and nodding. "Right. We can wait."

* * *

Tony had thought, that maybe because he'd been emotional at the time he agreed to seriously consider it, he would have second thoughts later. Only now it was later and he was still thinking about it. "Hey Rhodey," he said, notably less enthusiastic than how he usually greeted him. Partially just because Tony was always glad to see Rhodey, and partially because he was one of the only people that Tony got to see as himself instead of Iron Man.

"Something wrong?"

"Just thinking." Tony didn't really mean to keep Rhodey in the dark, but he couldn't force the words to make it out of his mouth.

"About what?"

Tony played with the seam of his jeans as it ran down his leg. "They wouldn't tell anyone."

"What?"

"The Avengers. They wouldn't tell anyone who I am. We could trust them."

Rhodey padded over to him, taking a seat at the bench next to him. "I know Tony. Did you want to tell them?"

He shrugged noncommittally, and Rhodey knew him well enough to know that it meant 'yes, but I'm not ready to admit that'.

"Okay." Rhodey put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Why don't you think about it for another day or two and we can go from there?"

"If you want."

"So," he said, turning to the table, "what's going on here? New repulsors?"

"Yeah. That goopy shit shouldn't have been as effective as it was, so I just wanted to keep it from happening again. As best I can anyways," he added with a disgruntled mumble.

Rhodey looked it all over with a critical eye. "Why don't you take a break and get some pizza with me?"

"Can't eat in the suit Rhodes. You graduated with honors from MIT, you'd think you would know better. Did you actually bribe the chem teacher? I called it back then and you told me that I should trust you more." He shook his head.

"How would bribing Professor Conners in chemistry help me graduate in engineering?"

"You've always been a wilely bastard."

Rhodey rolled his eyes with a smothered grin, reaching for his phone to call in the order for pizza. "And you've always been a pain in my ass."

"You love me."

"I plead the fifth." Rhodey called it in because he didn't want Jarvis to apparently, and they passed time as they usually did-- with science and work and talking shit.

Unsurprisingly, the pizza was great, cheese oozing off the slices and the pepperoni making a delightfully greasy layer. They finished it off together, and Tony was chewing on the last crust as he thought. "I don't want it to be a big deal."

"Don't want what to be a big deal?"

Tony just raised his eyebrow. "What do you think?"

"Well I didn't want to assume," Rhodey said with a smirk. "Listen Tones, they're finding out who you are. You've been friends for years, and they've never seen your face. Even if they don't make a big deal about the Stark thing, they're going to be freaking out a little just because they get to see you."

Tony made a face.

Rhodey knocked his knuckles against Tony's arm lightly. "Hey what happened to the Tony that loved being the center of attention?"

"He got a hole in his chest by his godfather," Tony said flatly. Rhodey froze awkwardly, and Tony rubbed at his face. "Jesus. Sorry. I just... can't stop thinking about it," he admitted. It had happened years ago, and he was as over that particular shit show as he was going to be, but that didn't mean that he wasn't paranoid about what Stane had done. He knew that that had been a very particular situation with specific circumstances that wasn't going to be replicated any time soon, but he couldn't get past it. He took a deep breath, looking at the door that Rhodey had come in; the door that he couldn't even think about using unless he was in the Iron Man suit. "You feel like dessert? Bucky made brownies earlier, I think there's some left. We could go see."

Rhodey looked at him for a moment before agreeing. "Yeah sure. I could go for some brownies." They both got to their feet, and Tony took a minute to pull on shoes and an actual shirt on top of his tank top. "Barnes likes you, do you think you could convince him to make those lemon eclairs again?"

"You are a traitor to chocolate lovers everywhere."

"How am I a traitor? I've never claimed that I like chocolate and only chocolate."

"Maybe, but back in college you would say--"

"Don't remind me," Rhodey groaned. "That was twenty years ago Tony let it go."

"I hold grudges honey bear, this shouldn't surprise you."

"And yet."

Tony shook his head as they got in the elevator. "We've been friends for decades and sometimes it's like we never got past the third year of our friendship. We have the same arguments again and again." He put a hand to his forehead and looked beseechingly at the ceiling-- or an approximation of it since the elevator's ceiling was mostly lights. "When did this happen to us. We used to be so in love."

"Oh my darling," Rhodey said, grabbing Tony's other hand and patting it. "We knew this was inevitable. It's time to accept it."

"Well that's harsh." Tony dropped his hand but gave Rhodey's a squeeze before they let go. He watched the floor numbers go up and took another deep breath. It's not like anything too bad would happen, he knew logically. He always did have an overactive imagination, and while that led to things like the arc reactor and the Iron Man suit, it also left him where he currently was, which was freaking out that they were going to suddenly hate him and leave him to the wolves until he either quit the team or was killed by one of the villains they faced. Which was of course ridiculous because Jan could barely use force on bonafide villains and she sure as hell wouldn't be able to do that to Tony. Not to mention the rest of the team, of course.

"Have I ever let anyone hurt you?" Rhodey asked quietly.

"No."

"Then take a deep breath--" he waited for Tony to do so "--and trust me. You'll be fine. We're just grabbing some food. Low commitment, and it'll be easy to leave if you want."

"I'll be fine," Tony said, ignoring the fact that he'd been freaking out not even ten seconds ago. He squared his shoulders, and Rhodey hid a faint smile. Pre-Iron Man days hadn't necessarily been good, but most days it was like Tony was a husk of his former self. This posture was reminiscent of when he was going to board meetings, having to walk into a room full of people that disagreed with his ideas just to spite him.

"Alright."

They stepped out of the elevator, and Tony didn't falter when they walked past most of the Avengers sitting in the living room. "I'm just saying that lemon flavored treats are generally better than chocolate, Tony."

"You are not only wrong, but you are wrong to the level that I feel it is a tragedy to mankind to let you go on thinking like that."

Rhodey rolled his eyes and stood to the side as Tony, who was much more comfortable in Avengers spaces, searched for the tin of brownies. "People have different taste buds, this isn't news."

"But chocolate is so--"

"I never said that chocolate wasn't good."

"I see right through you Rhodes." Tony found the container, on a high shelf of the pantry for some reason instead of just out on the counter. Maybe it was a countermeasure to prevent Thor from eating all of them because he had a tendency to eat the first thing in sight whether or not he actually liked the taste.

"Kinky."

"If you're going to be mean to me, you don't get any brownies."

"Aw c'mon I own the tower. And I fund the Avengers. I think that entitles me to a brownie or two, no matter what you think of me Iron Ass."

"What did I just say about being mean to me? I'm sensitive platypus."

"Oh sure you're sensitive now. The other day when you got hit with that goo, you were 'made of iron' and 'didn't need to be in the hospital'."

"I'm sensitive on the inside you meanie."

"Funnily enough, the goo got in and around the arc reactor which is inside, so I," Rhodey punctuated his remark by tapping the arc reactor, "am still right."

Tony glared at him. "You're covering for your chocolate hatred." He opened the lid and took out a brownie, taking a large bite. "But you aren't fooling anyone," he said around his mouthful. He swallowed about half and turned to the Avengers that had gotten out of their seats to watch (and figure out what the hell was going on). "Don't you think I'm right here? Just because you're technically right Rhodey, does not mean you are right in life." He nodded sagely.

"This coming from the man that went into a fight with a concussion." Rhodey craned his neck around to the Avengers. "In my defense, I told him not to, but apparently being the boss doesn't mean anything if it's not him." He stepped to the side under the guise of leaning against the counter.

"Iron Man?" Steve asked slowly, like there was going to be someone else walking around with an arc reactor embedded in their chest. Let alone a person other than him that would walk into their kitchen like it was their home.

"You can have a brownie if you want Winghead, but giving one to the wet blanket here will not keep you on my good side."

"Oh for fuck's sake Tony, shouldn't you be happy that you have one less person to share with?"

"That just makes it harder for me to grab something we'll both enjoy. If you didn't actually want brownies, you shouldn't have lied. Lying is a sin, you know."

"He's right," Steve said, obviously nervous but trying to work past it. "'Course we all lie, so you're in good company."

"Shouldn't we be on Iron Man's side?" Bucky asked, his arm resting on Steve's shoulder. "Team solidarity and all that?"

"And piss off the team benefactor?" Natasha pointed out. "I'm not too sure about that. I think we're team Rhodes in this, but I guess you could be team Iron Man if you're willing to be all by yourself."

"My name's Tony. Just. By the way." Tony took another bit of his brownie.

"Fine Team Tony then," Natasha corrected.

Clint raised his hand, "I'm team Tony!"

Tony chuckled. "Thanks Clint."

Jan hadn't said anything, staring at Tony with her head tilted, like she wasn't entirely sure whether or not she was hallucinating. "Tony," she said slowly, confused. Then, she lit up and squealed. "Ohmygod Tony!" She flung herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck in a tight hug. "I haven't seen you in ages; I missed you so much! Runway shows just aren't what they used to be without you going with me! Hank never wants to go, and I tried forcing him once but he pouted the entire time and didn't even pay attention. I missed you but oh heavens what are you wearing?" She pulled back, hands on his shoulders as she looked at his outfit. "Since you're Iron Man, you clearly have some sense of style, but really darling with a body like yours you can't hide it like this."

Tony rolled his eyes. "They're sweats Jan, they're supposed to be comfortable, not stylish."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "I've taught you better than this."

"You two... know each other?" Steve asked, looking between the two of them with an adorable confused puppy dog look on his face. "I mean, outside of Iron Man?"

Jan smiled, nodding vigorously as she threaded her arm through Tony's. "We grew up in the same social circle."

"But you're... rich."

Bucky swatted Steve's arm. "I can't believe everyone thinks you're smarter than me."

"What? What did I do?"

"Gee Steve I dunno," Bucky said, rolling his eyes. "Tony Stark dies, Mister Rhodes gets the company and is close with Iron Man, who escaped when Stark didn't, and then he strolls in here with Iron Man, who happens to be a guy named Tony."

Steve blinked. "Oh." He flushed, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment. "Right."

* * *

Things went pretty smoothly after that. Nobody made a big deal about the Stark thing, and with the exception of Jan, no one tried to get him out of the house. And even then, Jan only did it because she wanted someone to go to the big parties with her, which Tony refused to do even with her assurances that she'd get him a suitable yet gorgeous disguise.

Tony hadn't told any of them about his prosthetic leg, always making sure that he wore socks or shoes around the Tower, and since he hadn't gotten past some couch kissing with either Bucky or Steve, they didn't have an opportunity to notice his leg either.

Tony hated that he was nervous. Bucky had a prosthetic for god's sake, it's not like either of them were going to judge him or be the slightest bit uncomfortable with it. He just... couldn't help it. He'd had a perfect looking body before all this, and now he had a hole in his chest, a fake leg, and the scars to go with both. He knew intellectually that neither of them gave a single shit about his scars, but he was used to his cover-ready body, so the gnarled vines surrounding both sites made him indescribably nervous.

He liked how things were going with them, and he didn't want anything to change. So when Bucky wrapped an arm around his waist to keep him from leaving his lap, he got a little nervous. "You uh, wanna stay the night?"

Yep. That's what he was afraid of. "I..." He wanted to say yes. He knew that they wouldn't make a big deal out of it if he didn't want them to, the same way it had been when he finally revealed his identity. "I don't think I'm ready for that."

"We don't have to do anything. I just want to wake up next to you. If you want to."

Tony swallowed. God he wanted to say yes. But, "I'm not ready yet."

"Okay." Bucky kissed his neck, and he let Tony slide off his lap a minute later. "Sweet dreams Tony."

"Aw you're so sweet. Go fuck Steve and give him a kiss for me."

Bucky laughed, startled. "Yeah, I'll do that. Have a good night, darlin'."

* * *

With how the Avengers' lives went, it shouldn't have surprised Tony when he got trapped in a hallway with his super soldiers, the armor a dead weight that had him stumbling when the concentrated EMP went off.

"Iron Man?" Steve asked, rushing to his side. "Are you okay?"

"Comms are fried Cap, you don't have to do that," Tony said, referring to Steve sticking to his code name. The HUD was dark, Jarvis was quiet in his ear, and he could tell without moving that the suit wouldn't respond to any commands. He'd probably fall straight on his face if he tried. His left leg was still functioning though, so that was nice. He thought about taking off the suit, but since he was in a tank and shorts, he decided against it for the moment. "I'm fine. You okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine. Buck?"

Bucky was grimacing, holding his left arm tightly in his right hand. "Arm's not workin'."

Tony's heart squeezed in sympathy. Maintenance was bad enough when you knew the loss of sensation was coming, but for it to suddenly drop off must be awful. "I can fix you up when we get back to the Tower."

"Any plans for how to get out of here?" Steve asked, hefting his shield like he was going to bash his way out of the hallway's rubble.

"Wait for the team to come get us?" Tony suggested.

"What?" Steve was frowning at him, which Tony thought was a little rude.

"The suit's fried. Unless you want to bury me here-- which I don't vote for, by the way-- we have to sit tight for a while." Or at least that was the plan until the ceiling above them shifted, threatening to come down on their heads. "Okay, time for a new plan." Tony fumbled for the release on the suit's hip until it peeled away, leaving him exposed. He wiggled his toes just to make sure they were still working, then held his hand out and motioned for Bucky to come closer. He climbed out of the suit and leaned against a mostly still there piece of wall and looked up.

Bucky was staring at the prosthetic in shock, and Steve... well Steve just looked concerned about whatever Tony was about to do. "You have a prosthetic?"

"Uh yeah. Complicated. Come here."

Bucky walked over to him numbly, stumbling to his knees with his left side against Tony so that he could reach his arm. He seemed fairly calm until Tony smoothed his hands over his leg, searching for the small catch to open it up. He cringed at the less than sterile conditions, but desperate times called for desperate measures, and he wasn't going to let all of them get buried under rubble just because it would take him a while to detail clean his prosthetic-- he did that on a regular basis anyways.

His leg folded open, and he shuffled his hands through the parts until he found what he was looking for. He pulled it out, not quite able to hide a shudder as his leg shut down, then grabbed Bucky's arm, sliding the piece into place. It was more complicated than that of course, but everything Tony did looked so effortless.

Bucky swallowed hard when it all clicked and his arm rebooted. It didn't _hurt_ but it wasn't necessarily pleasant either. He flexed it, hearing and feeling as much as he saw the plates whir and shift. He got to his feet and walked to the point where it looked weakest. "Steve, grab Tony and get under the shield."

Steve did so, giving a small, "Sorry," as he hauled Tony up and placed his body over Tony's protectively, before raising the shield over their heads. Looking like a fateful version of determined, he nodded at Bucky to let him know he was ready.

Bucky took a deep breath, pulled his metal arm back, and _punched_.

* * *

They all winded up in the hospital, but that was better than if they'd stayed where they were. The spot where they'd been trapped ended up blown to hell. The Iron Man suit was in half-charred pieces, but they collected all of them just in case. Steve secretly thought it was a little unnecessary, but he knew that Tony wouldn't do something so tedious unless it was important, so he kept his mouth shut and hugged Tony when he apologized for making a fuss.

Bucky and Steve were about to go to bed the first night they were all home when a knock sounded on their door. "Yeah?"

Tony peeked his head in. "Hey."

"Hey doll," Bucky said with a warm smile, nodding for him to step all the way into the room. "What's up?"

Tony's prosthetic was fixed now, gleaming red on the floor where the light was reflecting off of it. He used to cover it up, but now he had no socks on, and he was already stripped to his boxers. "Don't read too much into this," he started, rubbing his hands together nervously, "but can I sleep with you guys tonight? Not sex, I just... want to be close."

"I'm fine with that," Steve said, then glanced at Bucky, who just motioned to the bed in a 'if you want to, hop in' sort of way.

None of them said anything about how this was the first time they were doing this so maybe they should talk. Tony was the one who had initiated this, but all of them wanted it.

Tony woke up well rested but burning up. Each of the super soliders were a personal heater, and he was smushed between them like a s'more. He kind of wanted to move, but mostly didn't. Not to mention Bucky was half on top of him and weighed like three hundred pounds. Steve was drooling on the pillow.

Tony smiled and closed his eyes again, hoping that he'd be able to get back to sleep. Being overly warm wasn't nice, but he wouldn't change any of this.


End file.
